Let’s Discuss ~ Issues I have with season 6 of OUAT

This piece of writing contains spoilers and talks mainly about what we have seen between 6×01 and 6×05, but also refers back to content from previous seasons.

Season 1 model doesn’t work in season 6:

I think one of the main issue for me was that they were trying to fit a lot in and it resulted in them doing a decent job for the newer characters but it meant that the narratives of the original characters was compromised a lot. It had a similar vibe to season 1 in the sense that they were taking a certain character and looking into their past and their present. While this worked well in season 1, I felt that by focusing on a certain character now meant taking away focus from the main characters and their stories. At this point, where people are more invested in the main characters, it was annoying to see the stories of the main characters being pushed aside. So while it was a model that worked in the earlier seasons, it just didn’t work well now.

Execution of Emma’s story:

There’s also a lot of missed opportunities in terms of Emma’s story in this season. For example, when they started to tease about Emma’s visions and her hiding it from her family, I thought when the news finally broke, we’d get some really hard hitting, intense scenes from the Charming family, Hook and everyone close to Emma. But the reality was a really washed out scene. For example, we saw that as the Evil Queen was leaving, her parents and Hook question her and ask her how She kept it from them but there wasn’t much else to it. We saw Snow say to Emma that she and Charming are her parents and that they can forgive her, but she needs to be honest and open with Hook if she wants to have a future with him. This was the perfect opportunity to show a meaningful conversation between Emma and Snow about some of the thoughts and feelngs Emma had been having about her and Hook, but that didn’t materialise.

Missed opportunities for Emma and Hook:

Following on from the revelation of Emma’s fate, I felt this was the perfect opportunity for a really deep and angsty conversation between Emma and Killian because she’d been holding out from him and you could tell it was bothering him. As a result, I had been hoping for a boiling over of emotions and them really talking about their relationship, but it never came.

Furthermore, in the interviews I’d watched, Colin focused heavily on the fact that because Emma and Hook know now that what they share is true love, it would be interesting to see how their relationship moved forward. But to be absolutely honest with you, I feel like they’ve really dropped the ball on that. We barely see Emma and Hook and the number of actually meaningful conversations has been very limited. The only time where we actually saw a potential shift/progression in their relationship was when Emma was telling Archie about the fact that she and Hook want to move in together but she doesn’t know how to go about it considering what her fate held. I think this again goes back into how we could’ve had a really deep and meaningful conversation between Emma and Hook when the truth of her visions came out, but it just didn’t happen.

Henry:

Another plot line that had me feeling a bit eh was the Hook and Henry story in the middle. That story and episode had so much potential but it just wasn’t executed properly at all. Henry being slightly angry at Hook makes sense. He’s a teenager, there’s a new man in his moms life, things are changing and he’s being manipulated by the Evil Queen. This again had the potential for a really big scene between Henry and Hook where Henry could’ve laid out all his insecurities and fears and we could have seen Hook trying to comfort him, calm him, just bonding with him in a meaningful way, but instead they took the easy way out. They showed us that Henry’s anger kind of subsided when Hook let him leave the submarine, essentially sacrificing himself, which was undoubtedly sweet but there was just potential for so much more. It just felt like the writers couldn’t be bothered to write a big meaningful scene between Henry and Hook so they just showed Hook saving Henry and that being enough for him.

Also, Henry telling Hook he wasn’t family didn’t sit right with me. Had this happened in an earlier season or at some other time when Emma was in some kind of danger, it would have been fitting, but at this specific point, it just felt that Henry’s anger was a bit out of place. Considering everything that Hook and Emma had done for each other, and considering that they now knew what they shared was true love, it just felt like Henry saying Hook wasn’t family didn’t make sense. This is again a case of, had the writers written that situation better, it could have worked really well, but it was just a weak effort that didn’t really make much of an impact on me.

Zelena:

I’m actually really disappointed with the development of Zelena’s characters. Over the course of the second half of season 5, she grew a lot and we saw a meaningful relationship developing with Regina and then it just all fell apart again in S6 and Instead of them showing us Regina trying to reconnect with her sister, we’re seeing this new diluted Zelena just going along with everything that the Evil Queen in saying/doing.

Rushed and disconnected episodes:

Going back to what I said about it all feeling a bit rushed, it feels like in this season they’re scared to let certain storylines move into the next episode. Like the over arching stories for the Charmings is Emma’s fate and the story about David’s dad, but everything else, feels like they try to wrap up and put a bow on it by the end of the same episode. This again goes back to how they are adopting a similar model to season 1, but it’s annoying because it means we have a lot of episodes which don’t really roll on from each other any more. I feel if this is what they wanted to do, they could have done so, but they should’ve left a rolling narrative going on in the background for other things. For example, going back to Hook and Emma after find out Emma’s truth, there was nothing to say that that needed to be resolved in that very episode. We could have left it and they could have let the situation simmer and brew and then we could have finally had Hook really addressing it with Emma and then them talking about it and deciding how they wanted to move forward.

Regina vs Evil Queen:

I don’t want to talk too much about it yet because I have a feeling that’s going to be a heavy focus for the end of this half of the season, but as it stands, it’s been underwhelming so far. I was expecting to see more of the Evil Queen being evil, but it’s been more her just poking at people and hoping they explode. But again, I’m willing to hold out for this one because I do think they’re waiting for the back end of this season to really go fully into this story.

I think that’s all for today. I think I have covered most of the things that I wanted to speak about. Thank you for taking the time to read. If anyone is interested, I might do some more OUAT related posts as I watch more of it/when I rewatch it.

Let’s Discuss: Four More Shots Please!

Four More Shots Please! is an Amazon original set in South Mumbai and follows the lives and friendship of four unapologetically flawed women.

We have Siddhi, born and brought up in South Mumbai, the daughter of socialite Sneha Patel who puts what the world thinks about their family and finding the perfect groom for her daughter above her daughter herself.

Then we have Umang, a personal trainer who left her life in Ludhiana because she wanted to live her life on her own terms. She is a proud bisexual who is confident in herself and can take a stand for herself when she needs to.

Damini Rizvi Roy is our next leading lady. Damini is a journalist and founder of a news site. Originally from Delhi, she’s the definition of sorted when we first meet her. She doesn’t have time for anything and her control issues mean she has to have everything in order and her way.

The final main of this show is Anjana Menon, a lawyer and a divorced single mother of a 4 year old daughter.  She doesn’t even have time to go to the loo, getting back onto the dating scene is a myth.

 

Now that we have met the characters, let me begin to talk you through some of my highlights, what I think could have been done better, my personal complaints and what I would like to see in the next season.

 

What’s been done well 

Let’s start off by discussing some of the more well done aspects of the show.

1. The dynamic between the girls – Though there are some aspects of their friendship or certain things that happened in the show that made me raise my eyebrows, all in all I think they have a great dynamic. For example, at the start of the second season, we see how they all drop everything and go running to Istanbul for Siddhi because they thought she was in trouble. Throughout the show we also see them confining in each other about sensitive and private topics. We see how they express their insecurities and fears to each other and how they support each other through it all. Though sometimes they can be insensitive at times, I feel the way their relationship was portrayed was pretty realistic and relatable.
2. Jeh and Damini’s relationship – For me their relationship is probably one of the main highlights of the show. Right from the first episode when we first see them together, we know there is a spark between them, you just know that there is going to be something meaningful between them, so when they finally got together it was a real “FINALLY” kind of moment. Though there wasn’t a huge amount of buildup to them getting together, nor were there many instances where we saw them alone, when we did see them alone it was meaningful and added value to their relationship.
3. Damini’s feelings for Jeh – Damini’s feelings for Jeh are well defined and again, right from the first episode, we can tell that she is fond of Jeh. The way she stays back for a drink with him and how later she confines in him that she doesn’t like going home to an empty house just show how she’s comfortable around him and how special he is to her. I feel around Jeh is when we see Damini most at ease, even without the presence of alcohol. We also see how she is willing to turn down other men just so that she can stay at the bar a little longer with Jeh and just enjoy a drink and a chat with him. Furthermore, the first time we see Jeh and Damini sleep together, we see how she asks him to stay the night. This is significant as with other men, we have seen how she doesn’t allow them to stay the night as she looks to sleep in her cocoon. But with Jeh, she would rather he be her cocoon. All of this put together does wonders to portray just how important Jeh is for her.
4. Anjana and Varun’s relationship – This is another relationship that I think was portrayed very well. This is because we really see a growth and change between them. When we first meet them, though they have been divorced for over 3 years, Anjana still hasn’t moved on from Varun despite her asking him for a divorce. We find out that since the divorce she hasn’t been with anyone else and that she hasn’t even had the time for herself. However, by the end of the second series we see how Anjana has found closure in her relationship with Varun and how she is comfortable with Kavya, his new wife. What I also like is how they can co-parent quite effectively and despite the fact that they are two separate families, they can come together for occasions and celebrate together instead of Arya having to celebrate each celebration twice and with her parents separately. I also liked that we start off with Anjana needing closure from their relationship at the start of the show but by the time we get to the end of season 2, she has found the closure that she needed, she felt guilt when Varun kissed her and she was willing to push him away for Kavya’s sake. It showed that not only did she respect herself but she had also found respect for Varun and Kavya’s relationship.
5. Anjana and Kavya’s friendship – I really like that we see these women getting along. Right from the start we see that Kavya is relatively comfortable with Anj and though Anj is apprehensive and it takes her a while to warm to Kavya, she does ultimately become friends with her. I really liked that we saw the two women having coffee together and that Kavya explained how she doesn’t want to be a second mum to Arya. This was a much needed conversation as it put Anjana at ease about what Kavya’s motives were and it helped for them to build a healthy relationship. I also really liked that Kavya wasn’t apprehensive about speaking to Anjana about Varun. It showed that Kavya was secure in her own relationship and that she was genuinely trying to form a relationship with Anjana by speaking about things they had in common. I found the development of their relationship to be really wholesome and genuine. Furthermore, when Anjana found out that Varun and Kavya were pregnant, she was genuinely happy for them. Albeit she was shocked at first, she was genuinely happy for them and there was no malice in her even when she went and told her friends about it.
6. Siddhi finding herself – This is one characters arc which I am actually satisfied with. When we first meet her, her goal is to get married because that’s what her mother has always wanted for her. She doesn’t really have any ambitions, her only aim is to find a husband. We also see how her mother makes her feel crap about her body but she’s always been relatively happy with her body, hence why she doesn’t really mind eating that extra bar of chocolate even when she probably shouldn’t. However, it was after Mohit entered her life and when he introduced her to sexybods, that she actually started really loving her body. I think they dealt with self exploration was great. Going on a semi-pornographic is not a way I would want to find affirmation from the world but it worked for Siddhi and it helped her to find her feet. I also really liked how by the end of the first season, Siddhi realised that she wanted more to life than to just be someone’s wife. In the second season, we saw Siddhi trying different occupations in order to find her niche. I really liked how we saw her stumbling upon stand-up comedy and realising that this was her thing. In real life, you can think something is for you but when you actually do it, you realise it really isn’t for you and your ideal career path just falls into your lap and this is what happened with Siddhi. Furthermore, by the end of the season she realised that this was something she wanted to take forward and that she was actively taking steps to get a qualification to help her kick start her career. So all in all I felt Siddhi’s personal character arc was the best presented in the show.
7. Jeh and Umang’s friendship – When we learnt about the first day that the girls met each other and when Jeh first met Umang, we saw that Umang was probably the girl Jeh liked the least. By the end of the second season, it was noticeable that out of all of the girls Jeh had the best relationship with Umang. Part of this could have been because Jeh and Umang had time to bond one on one whereas the other girls didn’t have that, but all in all, it was nice to see the development and growth of their friendship. In earlier episodes, I was also slightly convinced that Umang had feelings for Jeh due to how she made flirty comments at him, but once Samara came in to Umang’s life that was no long present. They just shared a healthy platonic relationship.
8. Production and direction of the show – This is less about the actual story but more about the viewer experience. I don’t know much about film making but I feel they did a really good job of making the show appeal to the eyes. From the sets to the outfits to the shots that they used, most of them were very pleasing and satisfying to watch and enhanced the overall vibe of the show.
9. The soundtrack – I absolutely LOVE the music that they use in the show. I have both albums saved and you can bet your bottom I will be jamming to these tunes for months to come. I think they have just done an absolutely fab job with the music that they have created and used.
10. Casting – The casting of this show is *chef’s kiss.* From the main characters to the additional characters, I just love all of the actors that have been associated with this project and I just feel that everyone is very talented and has brought a lot to the show. Focusing on the four leading ladies alone, I think they are incredible actresses and that they are incredibly brave to have taken up these roles. I cannot speak highly enough of this cast.

 

Flaws 

No project is ever perfect and though I feel overly satisfied with this show, there were a number of aspects which I felt brought them down a bit.

1. All the girls stopped speaking to each other between the end of season 1 and beginning of season 2 – This was something that just didn’t make sense to me. I understood why Siddhi stopped talking to the other girls, though I do not think the issue with them was major enough for her to completely stop speaking to them for 4 months. I understood why all the girls stopped speaking to Anjana and why Anj stopped speaking to them, a lot of harsh things were thrown back and forth so this made sense to me. What didn’t make sense to me was why Damini and Umang stopped speaking to each other as well. During the big fight, nothing happened between Dee and Umang and so when we learnt that they also hadn’t spoken to each other in months, I just felt it didn’t make sense and that it was unnecessary for them to have stopped speaking too.
2. Damini’s OCD – To me, Damini’s character was the most interesting and I felt there was so much scope for exploration with her character. So when they addressed her OCD, I was really excited because I felt this could be a very interesting arc for her character. In the first half of season one, we see Damini exhibit little acts of compulsive behaviour, be it her sanitising her hands too many times, making sure the shot glasses were completely straight, or refusing to let anyone stay the night with her because she needed her coccoon. However, after Jeh and Damini get together, it is almost as though all she needed was a relationship with a man she actually cared about to cure her of her OCD. Her OCD was almost completely gone when they got together and I just felt it was a lot of potential wasted and they overly simplified OCD. I am not saying that I wanted to see her undergo therapy, but I think it would have been better if they had showed her quirks clearing up more gradually.
3. Lack of progression in Jeh and Damini’s relationship post getting together – Though the initial development of Jeh and Damini’s relationship is one of my main highlights of the show, their development after they get together is very disappointing. Once they expressed that they like each other, and after we saw Jeh helping Damini in the bathroom, the rest of their relationship was almost purely physical. We don’t see them dating or spending time together, we see them sleeping together and that is about it. Understandably, we could have seen more emotional growth after they slept together, but the writers decided to break them up because of Warsi. And then when Damini broke it off with Warsi and came to tell Jeh how she really felt about him and how much she wanted their relationship, we are hit with him getting back with his ex. In the second season we follow a similar pattern. For a lot of the season they’re not really speaking to each other, and then they reconcile and start confining in each other, but again we are rushed into seeing them sleep together. However, what I did like was how Jeh wanted to slow their relationship down so that they could date and get to know each other, and though we see them being slightly more domesticated and more like a normal dating couple, it is short lived as they break up again. However, I am hoping for more meaningful development of their relationship in the next season. I just felt that they were the most sorted and functional couple in the show and that there was a lot of scope to show them having a meaningful relationship but it was all messed up by the constant break ups and the constant insertion of a third person in their relationship.
4. Samara’s bipolar – Similar to Damini’s OCD, this is another story line that had a lot of potential and there was scope to see Umang and Samara working together to help her get back to a healthy place in her a life. I feel this story was done better than Damini’s but it still had so much more room for development.
5. Death of Siddhi’s dad – I couldn’t decide if I wanted to mention this in this section or further down in my list of personal cribs but I think I will add it here. To be frank, I don’t think they needed to kill of Sids’ dad. They did it to add a shock factor into the finale, to leave everyone high on emotions to build up the anticipation for the next season. However, I don’t think it was necessary as the last episode had already been quite heavy and there was enough left open for them to pick up from for the next season. I felt they did it so like at the end of the first season, all girls have their own issue to deal with but the steaks were a lot higher at the end of this season and the things the other girls had experienced had been intense and I feel it would have been better if they had left Sids’ in a stable place so that she could support her friends.
6. The girls quitting jobs at the drop of a hat – In the real world, jobs are hard to come by, and for most people, they cannot just walk out of one job without the security of another. I understand that both in Umang and Anjana’s cases they were majorly disrespected and if I were in their place I would for sure want to leave too, but one has to act rationally. It just felt unrealistic that they both just walked out without thinking of the consequences. Normally people would be sure they would have another job to go to before they walked out of one, but they just walked straight out without the security of another job, which just isn’t realistic enough for me.
7. Heavy emphasis on casual sex and explicit depiction – To clarify, I am not a prude, I do not have issues with sex or the depiction of sex in shows and movies. However, I just felt that some of the conversations between the girls were overly explicit and I just don’t feel that it was necessary. Also, I felt they overly normalised the role of casual sex with all of the girls shown to engage in casual sex at some point. I understand it is a part of life and for a lot of people casual sex is not a big deal, but I just felt it wasn’t necessary for it to be shown through all of the girls.
8. Camera angles – Again, I am not a prude, however, some of the camera angles used when the girls were engaging in sexual activities just made me feel uncomfortable and they just felt unnecessary. I am not going to go into too much detail about it, but yeah, I just didn’t appreciate some of the angles.

 

My personal cribs and how I think certain story lines should have played out 

When you start watching a show and get invested in it the way I have with this show, you notice things which might not be an issue to someone else, but they irritate you and you think of all the ways it could have been done better. This is a list of things which I think were done wrong and how I would have much rather they played out.

1. Damini’s OCD – As expressed before Damini is one character that I had high hopes for and her OCD track is one that I think they could have done a lot better. As stated before, I would have preferred it if they had show her slowly and gradually shedding off her compulsive behaviours instead of it just being gone once she got into a meaningful relationship.
2. Not enough of Damini in season 2 – From everything that I have said so far, I think it is obvious that Damini was one of my favourite characters and I don’t think it is a shock to anyone that I wanted to see more of her in season 2. I felt there was a much more heavy emphasis on Umang and Anjana’s stories in this season and due to that I feel Damini’s story got sent to the back. For the first half of the show, all we see of her is her struggles with finishing the book and bringing it to the shelves, and then in the second half it is her pregnancy. I feel there was a lot of scope to see more of her, but we just didn’t, especially in the second half. If they were to stretched for time for Dee’s story, I would rather preferred them to have given less time to the publication story and more time to the pregnancy story because that had a lot more potential and a lot more scope for growth and development.
3. Disposal for peripheral male characters – As I was writing my plan for this post, I found that a lot of the peripheral male characters (the men that the girls date) all receive a rather unceremonious ending and I was feeling bad for most of them. First up Arjun. I understand why Anjana felt the need to end her relationship with Arjun, but regardless, I felt it was unfair the way they chose to cut him out of her life, especially when he and Arya had formed a bond. I feel Arjun deserved better but I am not too bitter about this one as I can understand Anjana’s point of view. Then we had Amit. I felt extremely bad for Amit because he gave Siddhi the footing she needed in order to find what she wanted to do and he was willing to share his spotlight with her. But she chose to end it with him and the main motivator of her decision was the bad sex. I feel she should have communicated her issues with Amit so that they could have maybe worked through the issue, however she threw him out of her life, leaving him quite broken and defeated. The final male character that was disposed of, was Mihir. When Mihir reentered the story at the end of season 2, I was extremely hopeful for the future of his and Siddhi’s relationship, especially because we saw that she was still attached to him. But ultimately she turned him away too. Though this one hurt me the most, I can’t blame Siddhi because she turned him down so that she could become independent and find herself. So though I understand what the girls were thinking in 2/3 of the cases, I was still disappointed as to how they were just removed from the story.
4. Anjana’s selfishness and her reaction when things went wrong – To put it very frankly, of all the girls, I disliked Anjana the most in season 2. I understand why she wanted a casual relationship, but when she chose to pursue a relationship everyone advised her against, I found she was acting in an extremely selfish manner. Understandable, she was lied to by Shashank, but regardless, he was a married man and when all her friends and Kavya said she shouldn’t get involved, she should have listened. Furthermore, her reaction when it all blew up really irritated me as well. Regardless of what you thought, he was married and you should have known there was going to be consequences so I was really annoyed when she was all teary when it all blew up. She just really irritated me.
5. WARSI – I was tempted to add Warsi as a flaw, but then I thought he doesn’t actually belong there because I’m sure there are some people who don’t see him as a flaw. The first issue I have with him is that he did let himself engage in a relationship with a patient which is very wrong and I’m pretty sure it is illegal. So though Damini was making moves on him he should have backed off too because his career could have been on the line. My next issue is just how pushy he is. In the second season he just felt like an overall kabab mein haddi and he irritated me so much, especially when Jeh and Damini were speaking at the end and he had to stick his nose in and make things worse. Like he knew that Damini would always pick Jeh over him, yet when Jeh was speaking about accepting the baby as his own, Warsi felt the need to stick his ore in and cause tension between Dee and Jeh again. He just came across as a very immature person for someone who is meant to be a mature older man with his life in check. So I would have much rather they just didn’t bring Warsi back for the second season. I really hope he won’t be in the third because if he is, I will be extremely annoyed.
6. Damini’s pregnancy – Her actual pregnancy wasn’t the issue. When Damini first considered that she might be pregnant, I was actually quiet excited because I thought it would be interesting to see how she and Jeh deal with an unplanned pregnancy. What my issue was was that it was Warsi’s baby. Knowing how Jeh reacted to her and Warsi before, we knew it wasn’t going to go well. I think instead of them throwing a spanner into the works and messing with Jeh and Damini’s relationship, it would have been a lot better if the baby had in fact been Jeh’s because it would have meant that their relationship would have had to mature a lot more quickly and just generally, I think it would have been interesting to see their dynamic while coming to terms with the fact that they were having a baby. This was a majorly missed opportunity for a lot of great progression.

 

Hopes for season 3

We’re almost at the end of this mammoth review and I feel it would be good to dedicate the last section to what I want to see happen in season 3. I have a lot of ideas so I will try to discuss them as briefly as possible so that this post doesn’t get painstakingly long.

1. Umang living for Umang – Throughout seasons 1 and 2, Samara has been Umang’s priority and she put her before herself. Umang walking away from the wedding at the end of season 2 was very significant because she realised that she needed to be in a relationship where they were both equals and she didn’t have that with Samara. In season 3, I hope that Umang gets back out there and starts focusing on her career instead of getting caught up with another relationship. I also hope that Umang and Samara do not get back together because I just don’t think Samara will ever be able to love Umang back the way that Umang loves her. However, if Samara realises how important Umang was and that Umang’s dreams and career are just as important that I won’t be anti Umara.
2. Anjana’s impulsiveness – Though in season 1 and 2 we saw Anjana have some restraint before throwing herself into a relationship, she was still extremely impulsive and still went for it even if it meant that there were going to be consequences in the end. I think we really need to see her take a step back from things and really analyse situations, especially when it comes to men, before she jumps into another relationship.
3. Siddhi getting back on her feet – At the end of season 2 we saw Sids in a very fragile place and understandably so. However, I think it is vital that though she mourns for her loss, she shouldn’t allow herself to wallow. We need to see her bounce back and get back onto her feet and work towards achieving her goals. That is what he father would have wanted from her. I think season 3 should really focus on Siddhi dealing with her loss but pursuing her career above all.
4. Dealing with Damini’s loss and OCD – When we first met Damini, she seemed the most put together out of all of the girls and I feel, after 2 seasons she is the one that has come most undone. Though we saw her in a slightly better place at the end of season 2, it was a temporary fix for Umang’s sake. I think it is vital that Damini’s mental state is explored and that we see her process every thing that has happened to her. From losing her company, to the issues surrounding her book, to losing her baby, there is a lot of major life changes that have happened to her and they need to be dealt with properly. Furthermore, as her life has spiralled completely out of control, not is the best time to see her experiencing a relapse. By doing this, it would give the writers the opportunity to deal with her OCD properly because it wasn’t done well the first time.
5. Proper development of Jeh and Damini’s relationship – Now more than ever, Damini needs her support system and we have seen in the last 2 seasons that above all, Jeh knows what she needs. Now is the perfect time for us to see Jeh and Damini slowing their relationship all the way down and just focusing on rebuilding their emotional relationship and getting Damini back into a good place. I think it would actually be beneficial to see them not engaging into a physical relationship for a while.  When we first met them and before they got together, they had a great understanding but that was lost, I think we really need to see their built up again.
6. No more Warsi – I feel this is self-explanatory given what I have said about him before, but yes, no more Warsi. He has served his purpose, he is no longer needed.
7. Umang rebuilding her relationship with her family – We saw her reach out to her mother before the wedding but she was shut down. I think it is really important to see her family become a part of her life again and them accepting her for who she is. I think she needs them after everything that has happened.
8. Anjana putting her career first again – I highly doubt Anj is going to carry on working with Bose and if she isn’t it gives her the opportunity to go solo and I hope this is what she does. We have seen  that she is an amazing lawyer and I feel it would be great to see her trying to go solo and just putting her career first again. She’s tried her hand at relationships again and I think she should lay off for a while and just wait for someone worthwhile to come along. While she is waiting she should just focus on her career and her daughter again.
9. Damini speaking about her and Jeh – The girls all speak about meaningless hook ups and we have seen Damini speak to her girls about Warsi, but she’s never really talked about her feelings for Jeh to them and I think that would be a very meaningful conversation to witness. Furthermore, Damini actually loves Jeh and I think that is something that really should be addressed with the girls because it has the potential to produce some very powerful scenes.
10. Jeh speaking to Umang about him and Damini – A lot has happened between Jeh and Damini in a short period of time and I just feel it would be interesting to see what Jeh has to say about it all. I think he should have this conversation with Umang just because they share a deeper relationship and we have seen that Umang has tried to speak to him about him and Damini before but he shuts her out. I feel it would again be a really powerful scene to see him opening up to Umang about everything that has happened.
11. No unnecessary love interests – Samara, Jeh, Arjun, Mihir, Warsi, Shashank, Amit… We’ve had a fair few love interests for each girl in the space of 2 seasons and I just feel half of them have been meaningless casual hook ups but took a whole lot of screen time. In this season, I just want to see all the girls processing all that has happened to them and putting their careers first. Realistically, the only girl who needs a love interest is Damini. With everything that has happened she needs a solid support system and I think above all Jeh can provide that. Damini has been an independent woman for a long time and I feel, out of all of the girls, she is the only one who actually needs a solid partner so that she can settle down a bit. The rest of the girls have a lot they still need to do before they can start focusing their attentions on a love interest again.
12. Longer episodes or more episodes – In season 1 the episodes were 30 mins on average and in season 2, 35. I just feel if they had 45 mins per episode, a lot more content would be covered and a lot of the issues I had could have been ironed out. Alternative, they could just have a few more episodes per season. We’ll just have to wait and see what they do.

 

To conclude, yes we have finally made it to the end, I think this is a great show. Given there are a lot of factors that I didn’t like and a lot of things which I think could have been done better, there is a lot of things that I really did like.

My final verdict, this is a really good show and I really, really enjoyed it. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Again, it is not perfect, but it is definitely one of the better web productions that I have watched. I mean they are clearly doing something very right considering I have watched the show 4 times over in under 2 weeks! So yes, if you haven’t watched it, please do go and give it a watch.

This has been an absolute mammoth of a post so if you have got all the way to the end, thank you so much for taking the time to read. It means a lot to me and I would love it if you also shared your thoughts about the show in the comments. I would love to discuss the show further with you guys.

There’s so much more that I would love to say abut this show and maybe I will write a few more posts. Let me know if you would like me to do more of these discussion style posts both for 4MSP and for other shows/movies that I have been watching.

Also, Jeh and Damini have had me highly inspired and I would love to write a OS on them or a couple of OS’. If you would be interested to read them, please let me know!

 

I would also like to take this moment to thank my friend Sidhi because a lot of the ideas for this post were bounced off of her. So thank you Sids for helping me gather ideas for this thread.

But for now, that is all. Once again, thank you all for your time and remember, go and watched FOUR MORE SHOTS PLEASE! 

 

Why Maan’s memory loss track was a huge mistake

In Indian television shows, we witness a lot of characters losing their memory, and pretty much every single time, their memory comes back. One character who lost his memory was Maan in Geet Hui Sabse Paraayi. But unlike most characters, he didn’t get his memory back.

Allow me to explain why this has bothered me so much.

 

To begin with, let’s talk about why this track was ill timed and completely unnecessary in the first place. Memory loss tracks usually come along after couples have finally come together after facing a number of trials and tribulations, and this was the case in Geet too. However, the specific point where they chose to implement the memory loss was unnecessary and ill timed. This is because the drama level was already high because of the antics of Maan’s mother and they could’ve played with that track some more or just concluded it gracefully and then move into the next plot.

So that’s my first issue. The memory loss was introduced at a time when it wasn’t needed. They rushed the end of Maan’s mothers track because they launched into the memory loss. What they should’ve done was really pick at Maan’s mothers story, shown Dev really pulling his crap together to support his brother against his mother. Though they started doing that, it was a diluted attempt which was later rushed because of the memory loss track.

If they really wanted to play with a memory loss track, they should’ve waited until they fully developed Maan’s mothers track or until it had concluded. Instead it felt like that track had to be concluded because they had already started with the memory loss. It just felt like they dropped one story because they came up with something else.

 

My next issue and main issue is that Maan’s memory never came back. See in other shows, I don’t think it is as vital for the memory to come back as it was in this instance. Usually it’s just a case of the lead forgetting how they met their significant other and how they came together. And sure sometimes there’s a great story behind it, but in terms of how significant it is, usually it’s not that significant. Either they met and hated each other and then learnt to love each other. Or they met, fell in love and then had to fight to be together. I guess one could argue each story is significant in their own way, but I just feel the way Maan and Geet met and their backstory is far more significant than other pairs and it was far more important for Maan to remember how they came together.

Maan’s memory loss meant that he completely forgot everything related to Geet. This meant that he forgot how they met, but more importantly he forgot what she went though because of her family, because of his brother and what they went through as a couple.

If Geet was alive, it was because Maan saved her life that night in the jungle when her brother was just about to drop the sword on her. But he doesn’t remember that.

He doesn’t remember the fact that she was cheated and became pregnant, hence why her family was trying to kill her.

He forgot that he was the main reason she began to stand up for herself and that he was the catalyst to her fighting for her child and to become independent.

He forgot that he accepted her child as his own, and the heartbreak they went through when they lost their baby.

For me, it’s such a disappointment that he forgot all this because this is all so significant to their story.

They showed us that Geet explained the Balwant Singh story for him and she explained the whole Amritsar track, but she never told him about anything that happened before that, nor did he ever ask about their relationship and how it came to be.

Now I understand why they chose to do this. It was probably because if they went into all of that again, it would mean we’d have to experience Maan hating Dev again and it would be repetitive and would’ve caused more layers in the narrative that they would’ve had to deal with, but at the same time, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth knowing that Maan doesn’t remember all these significant events that happened in their relationship.

 

But for me what made it worse was not the fact that he forgot and that he never remembered, but because he only accepted her again as his wife because he kind of had to?

When the track started, he didn’t like Geet. We didn’t get to see him soften towards her because he started to fall for her as a person. We saw him soften because he saw how she was being his wife. Granted he didn’t know she was his wife to begin with, but when he was made aware, that’s when he actually started to look at her with anything other than distaste. Moving forward, he only really bought himself to accept her because he felt like he had to, because he owed her that as she stood by him.

Now while I understand his thought process, it hurts my heart a bit that he only really took her back because he felt like he had to, not because he actually fell in love with her as a person.

Overall it just felt like Maan accepted her because he felt like he had to. And that sucks because Maan fell for Geet because she’s amazing and strong. But we didn’t get to see him experience all that all over again. After the memory loss, even when he looked at her, it just didn’t haven’t the same vibe as it did before the memory loss.

 

All in all, Maan’s memory loss track just felt like an ill planned addition at the end just to extend the story. And let’s be honest, Four Lions tend to do that with all their shows. But for me, this one just really irked me because it messed up the entire original narrative. For me, Maan’s memory loss track and the way it was executed was a colossal mistake and one that either should have been planned better, or should have just been avoided. Maan’s memories were vital to their relationship and this was one case where we really needed the memory to return. 

 

*****

 

Author’s Note: 

So you guys probably saw this and though huh? What’s going on? If you’re someone who follows me on my other social media platforms, you know that I have recently watched Geet properly for the first time and I am utterly obsessed. You also probably know about how strongly I feel for Maan. This post is a summation of all my feelings about this particular track because this was something I really wanted to speak about in detail and just put out there for people to read and hopefully engage with.

So a little different to my usual content but it’s something I wanted to do.

Please so leave your thoughts and comments and if you’ve watched Geet then PLEASE also let me know how you feel. I would love to discuss this topic further because I just have so much to say about it. Also let me know how you feel about me posting such analysis posts on here.

Analysing content and just speaking about things is something I love to do and I would like to make it a regular section on my blog aside from my creative writing projects. And I would love to speak about different shows and topics that are separate to my creative writing ventures. Please let me know what you think!

That’s all for today. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I’ll be back soon with more of my usual content.

Lots of love, hope to hear from you all again very soon! 

Why Surbhi is Ishqbaaaz

Surbhi Chandna… Where does one even begin? There’s so much I want to say about her, so much I feel for her but to actually make proper sentences about it… Let’s see how well I do.

 

Discovering Ishqbaaaz and Annika 

Starting from the very beginning, when I first came across Ishqbaaaz around this time last year, maybe a little earlier, I had absolutely no idea who Surbhi was and I had no intention to watch the show. But then, I came across a clip of the show, it was the pool scene from episode 294 and I was instantly converted. The chemistry between the leads was absolutely crackling, like nothing else I had seen on tv in a long time. From that point onwards, I kept a close eye on posts related to the show, watching bits here and there. 

It wasn’t until early January when I decided to finally take the dive and start watching from the beginning. 

It’s safe to say from the very first episode, I was absolutely sold. I fell in love with Shivaay around episode 4, Rudra was a babe from the first time we met him and Saumya too made it into my list of top 3 characters.

My love for Annika took longer to grow. 

In the very initial episodes, I liked Annika, but she didn’t wow me. When she gave back to Shivaay, she caught my attention but otherwise I was on the fence about her.

As I kept watching, as Annika kept developing as a character, I slowly fell more and more in love with her. When did I fully fall in love with her, only god knows. There isn’t a specific moment when I can say ‘that’s the moment I fell in love with her’ it just happened. When I fell in love with her, every little thing she did wowed me. I loved how she stood up for herself, how she didn’t give in to Shivaay Singh Oberoi and how his weighty name didn’t both her. She was confident in herself, she respected herself and I loved how she could not be broken by an arrogant man. 

 

Falling In Love With Surbhi

Surbhi as an actress didn’t wow me at the beginning. I felt she was good, but not the best. 

Whenever I start a new show and when I feel myself really getting invested, I like to know all the details about the cast and that’s exactly what I did. I sat on Wikipedia and read up on all the members of the cast. I was really surprised that Surbhi didn’t come from an acting background. Up to this point, I had probably only gotten to about episode 20, and Surbhi wasn’t standing out for me. You know how some figures just jump out to you the moment you see them, she didn’t. But after reading about her, I instantly felt myself warm to her. For someone who was playing her first lead role and to not have an acting background, she was pretty damn amazing. 

As time went on, I felt myself fall more in love with both Surbhi and Annika. By the time I caught up with all the episodes, I was obsessed. Around the time I caught up, the valentines promo was released of Shivaay shooting Annika. I WAS SO MAD! I couldn’t believe that they were going to kill Annika just as I had caught up. I think it was then that I realised wow, this character has really made her mark. 

Once I had caught up, I took the next natural step in becoming a full fledged ishqbaaaz fangirl, I joined the fandom. For a while it was all sunshine and rainbows, but as time went on, I discovered the darker side. I saw the hate that Surbhi would get for her looks and her complexion and it made me so angry. She was such a precious bean, how could people speak about her like that?! It was thanks to these people, I grew protective of Surbhi, really starting to appreciate the human she was. Despite the hate she got, she was confident and held her head up high. She never showed insecurity of her body shape or her colour despite what people said, she embraced herself. And it was then I realised how much of a role model she was. 

To me, Surbhi depicts hard work, confidence, elegance and class.

To me, Surbhi shows that if you really want something, if you really believe in yourself, you can do it. 

To me, Surbhi adds masala to ishqbaaaz. 

To me, Surbhi IS ishqbaaaz. 

How can you have ishqbaaaz without Surbhi and Annika? You can’t! You simply can’t. 

 

Why Surbhi And Annika Are Pivotal To Ishqbaaaz

Surbhi has played a multitude of different roles as Annika. She’s been your original khidkithod Annika, Kumari Kalavati Thakur, Annisa Begum, Punjabi Dadi with a thumka, Kumari Rosie Rani and now AU Annika who has stood her ground to win her husband and has emerged victorious. 

 

Be it RU Annika or AU Annika, she has jumped over a million hurdles and has always emerged victorious, how can childbirth kill a warrior princess? No version of Annika deserves that. Annika, fighting from day one for survival deserves her happy ending. She cannot be thrown away just like that. Showing that Annika doesn’t get her happy ending would leave a negative impact on the audience. It shows that no matter how hard a girl works for her happiness, she isn’t destined to be happy, she isn’t destined to get her happy ending with her prince and isn’t destined to get her happily ever after.

Much like Annika, Surbhi too is a warrior princess, she cannot be pushed aside. Like Annika, Surbhi has fought to make her place, her place cannot be handed over just like that. Surbhi has fought tooth and nail to make her place, how can her role so easily be written out and given to someone else? What kind of message does that give to the audience? It would suggest that Surbhi never mattered, that she was always inferior to her male counterpart. Is that really the kind of message that the audience need to be left with?

Annika defines Star’s “nayi soch” and “nayi baat” without Annika, there is nothing new about Ishqbaaaz. Annika defines new. Annika IS NEW! Yes, one can argue that Shivaay too is new, but what is Shivaay without Annika? Shivaay isn’t even an Ishqbaaaz without Annika?

 

Annika, the under promoted character of the show, has made her place in the heart of million. Annika cannot be thrown aside. Annika deserves better and so does Surbhi. Surbhi has made her place all on her own and she deserves her place, she cannot be thrown out now.

 

Surbhi cannot be pushed aside, Annika cannot be written out. It simply cannot happen. Annika is new, Annika is strong. Surbhi and Annika make Ishqbaaaz what it is. Surbhi IS Ishqbaaaz. 

Discussion: First Episode, First Impressions

So after the success of my first discussion post, I have decided to make this a new section of my blog.

Many of you here are already away of IPKKND3 and today we got the first episode. I have just finished watching it and I have many opinions. I have read the written update (just to make sure I understood everything that we learnt in the episode) and I have also read  number of reviews, just to feel out other people’s views. So here’s my short review of the epsiode.

 

1. Barun freakin Sobti! He’s back with a bang. The moment the show opened with him, everything was gone from my head. If my calculations are correct, I believe it’s been about 4 years and 6ish months since IPKKND ended and it felt SO GOOD to see Barun on tv. I know he has had other projects in between, but they hadn’t really come to my attention. But to see him again, after so long with his ASR vibe felt so good. His entry, what we initially saw of him, the little bit of his story, all that really captivated me. I’m not sure if that was the Barun affect or the affect of the story, but at that point, I was hooked.

Also, his scene at the end, him pulling the rope, the point where his vain was popping out of his neck? That’s acting, that’s a real actor. He made that look real, look believable, the magic was there.

2. The lead girl… I didn’t like her entrance and I didn’t like her beginning. However, her interaction with her father got me. She’s a good actress, she made me feel her pain in that moment, so I have high hopes for her acting. But I must admit, that was the only point where she had my undivided attention. When she was telling her story to the other guy, I lost interest to Ben completely honest.

3. The aunts in front of the temple, I didn’t like. At this point I really, really lost interest and honestly, I have no idea what they were on about. I got bored as hell and I was ready to turn away at that point. They seemed very basic, the basic kind of characters you get in all of these shows. They didn’t bring anything to the table like buaji or Mamiji did in the original IPKKND.

 

So really, if Braun wasn’t in the show, this is that type of show which I would have had one look at and would never have looked at again. I don’t think any other actor could have captivated me at the beginning. (or at all) I feel like the story has potential, but personally for me, it didn’t call out to me and if not for Barun I’m sure I wouldn’t be tuning in again.

I also feel like I lot of people tuned in today because of Barun only. I strongly believe that if Barun wasn’t in the show, or if it didn’t carry the IPKKND name, a lot more people wouldn’t have given the show a second look.

 

I understand many people will not agree with me, and that’s fine. We are here to discuss, to share our opinions. All in all, I got bored and at one point I didn’t know what was going on at all, hence why I had to go and look at the written update. I will carry on watching for the rest of the week, but if by Friday I’m still bored, then I’m afraid, Barun or no Barun, they will lose a regular viewer in me.

 

Please let let me know what what you guys thought of the episode and leave your comments. Discuss with each other, and have fun guys!

I’d also like to take this moment to promote my work 😂 I’ve had a HUGE increase in views and stuff since the last discussion post. So if you are someone new, please do check out my stories and let me know what you think! Leave a like and a comment, it would mean a lot to me!

Discussion: IPKKND3

Hi guys, so I was just looking at old Arnav and Khushi videos to get some inspiration for a one shot I’m working on, when I came across numerous articles and links related to Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3. Now I was ready to just ignore these links and then I realised that Barun was in the show and was going to be playing Advay Singh Raizada. I was then suddenly hopeful and thought maybe Sanaya would be back too, but she isn’t.

 

Now I have opened up the post just to ask you guys, how do we feel about this? IPKKND with our beloved Sobti but without Sanaya? Will you guys be watching the show? Or will you pass?

Personally I think I will watch it for the sake of Barun and also to maybe get some fresh story ideas,

 

How are you guys feeling about the new show? Are you liking the concept and the pairing? Leave your comments and thoughts below and we can all have a chat about IPKKND3!